Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Dreaming...

“Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?” ~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson

I’ve been having some very interesting dreams lately. You know, the kind that you wake up from thinking “What was that all about” or “I need to stop watching 'The Walking Dead' right before bedtime” or “After that dream, I think I need therapy”. Ever have any of those?

You know what would be fascinating? If we could somehow record our dreams for re-viewing during waking hours. Wouldn’t that be cool? Or maybe scary? Or maybe both.

I’ve always wondered what the meanings of our dreams are. Are they representations of our subconscious? Are they premonitions? Are they memories? Are they simply a rapid firing of the neurons in our brains as we sleep?

156 comments:

I used to think it was soul travel but the older I get, the less sure I am about anything. I could never connect deams to my life so it is something I've never given a great deal of thought. But Sweet Dream to you and all bloggie friends.

Mostly I dream about things from my waking life beautifully warped and arranged to make you go "What the?". Every once in a while though, I have a doozy that leaves me thinking about it for days. Those dreams I remember and write down. I think dreams are your minds way of trying to figure life out.

I think they're a mash up of all our conscious and unconscious thoughts, feelings, hopes and fears, as well as our real experiences. I remember someone telling me as a child though that dreams are where you actually go when you're asleep, and those times of dejavu in your real life are when you revisit places or experiences you went to in your dream state.

One of the things I find interesting is how some dreams seem to linger longer than others. The remnants of a scary dream or a sad dream will often cling to me for hours. When that happens, I try to capture those feelings -and sometimes the dreams themselves - on paper.

I never used to remember any of my dreams (I was having them as we all do... but I wasn't remembering them at all) ... but lately within this past year I have been having vivid ones that just wake me up and wanna say WHAT THE HECK was that???? :)

I go through phases of remembering dreams, and then months of forgetting them. The most vivid recently was dreaming that my son's head was transparent - not seeing his brain etc, but seeing right through to the other side. Everyone else in the dream was normal, and no one seemed to think it was a problem. I think dreams are definitely our way of sorting through our problems and sometimes even giving us subconscious solutions - but with this one, I'm stuck!

Sometimes my dreams are so vivid, I can't get them out of my mind the entire day. Sometimes I see something and when I wake up, I pretty much know how the day is going to unfold. I also have a book of interpretation which is based on Greek folk traditions and it's creepy how accurate it can be.I hope your dreams are mostly sweet!

Dreams are powerful. They often scare me because they are so vivid and so real. With my illness I experience dreams in the daytime while I am walking around. My mind creates a story that is either over the top amazing or really really scary. I guess it's is a flushing of our overactive brains...

There are times when a dream's meaning is immediately evident--whether I was thinking of something or someone that manifests in the dream shortly before falling asleep or because I've been mulling over a problem and it carries over into my dreams.

As with all things, however, it's fun to find the meaning of dreams but it probably isn't wise to put too much into it. After all, if dreams are merely the stirrings of the ego's subconscious, do we really want to live there let alone allow it to dictate our choices and/or direction?

I basically do not remember dreams at all most of the time. If there IS some dream that I remember, I find it is usually a way of coming to terms with something from real life in some way. When I was a child / young adult I had some quite scary repeating dreams. When I figured out what they MEANT, and in my WAKING state, ended the dream in a less scary way (rendering it helpless to scare me any more), the dreams themselves ended. I am perfectly happy not dreaming (or not remembering dreams) at this point in my life.

good topic-I rarely remember my dreams-but when I do they are always the real bizzare ones. I think like someone mentioned when I am totally exhausted especially mentally burnt out-that's when I have these wild dreams-they must mean something I guess

I think that dreams are like valves that takes care of what is we suppress. Like our emotions, our fears, what is most on our minds. I did some dream analysis on my own dreams and sometimes I have to revisit them often to really put the pieces together. If there is something that worries me, it might surface in a dream in symbolic way. I'm fascinated by dreams.

I think they are probably a combination of all those things you mention, plus lessons we need to learn in symbolic form.Have you noticed how the more disturbing ones keep recurring in slightly differing forms? Well, I believe these are trying to bring to your attention something you need to deal with in your waking life.This is such a fascinating subject...I could peruse it for hours, but would hate to bore you! LOL:D

I know I dream, but rarely remember them. I think we are reliving or dreaming of sometimes a different outcome to something. They come from within us, if that makes any sense. Things or events that have affected us.

I'm certain that dreams are a very intricate combination of things, most of which you have mentioned. Dreams unlock things from our subconscious and our past. They also reflect our anxieties and fears and suppressed emotions. And, heck, they can also be inspired by something we read, heard, or saw on TV.

And why cant we remember them when we wake? Or later in the day they just kinda hit ya, but ya cant remember the whole dream? I'll have to ask my son. A research psychology major with a minor in philosophy! :)

I have a dream journal next to my bed so I can write a few words to cue my memory during the day of my dreams. I have heard they are the brain's home movies or that they are a different consciousness. I don't know what they are but I love the mystery!

A though, yet excellent question; I had a set of three dreams with a distinctly Buddhist flair, which I would describe as my religious experience and one of the reasons I became a Buddhist. There have been ones I've had, which I've thought of as visions of some sort.

Of course, having the question streak, part of me has argued it's the subconscious digesting and regurgitating all the information and stimuli of the day. Or, perhaps the metaphorical background programs as the brain reboots to face another day.

I've been having strange dreams lately, too. I wonder if it has anything to do with the change of season; autumn is a season of reflection and our brains are probably working overtime! I think dreams are a combination of all the things you mention. And because I believe in reincarnation, I think some of them are memories of past lives.

Sometimes I'd like to be able to replay my dreams and try to figure them out. I think most of mine come from something I'm trying to work out. There are actually some very common themes that recur in dreams. Once when I realized I kept having dreams that were variations on the same theme, I googled it, and much of what I found seemed to make sense.

I think dreams come from multiple sources... concerns or problems that are niggling at the back of our minds, actual experiences, anticipation or worry about something about to happen, and a mishmash of mental "input" from our day-to-day lives. Books about dream interpretations can be fascinating to consider, but even Freud said, "Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar."

I actually went through a phase where I was fascinated (obsessed) with dreams. They can actually be controlled from a conscious level with enough practice and focus, and wow! When you can custom portions of your nightly adventures? That's a blast.

It's been years since I tried to manipulate my dreaming, but it's always been a source of inspiration for me--it's where I get 90% of my stories from.

i WISH there's a visual dream catcher where we can preview our dreams. i love this. i'm fascinated by dreams. i think they come from all of the sources that you mentioned. sometimes it's just a little bit annoying that some of the best dreams i ever had are the kind that you forget the moment you wake up.

I had a scary dream the other night. I woke up in the middle of the night and did not want to continue with that dream, but guess what, I did!! It was a rough night. I've got to stop watching thriller type movies!

I think most dreams (at least mine) are my subconscious processing the events and feelings in my life. Sometimes I keep a dream journal when my dreams have been particularly active. Writing them down preserves them. Mine have been particularly effective in processing losses, or pointing out an anxiety. I have often had what I've come to think of as "Goodbye" dreams after someone I loved has died. I've come to wait for them as they seem to push me over the hurtle of accepting what's happened and get on with my life again. With both my parents the dreams were particularly poignant but positive.

i actually thought about that just yesterday! i think dreams are like collages, made from tiny bits of our life that are stored in our subconcious. they're like our life, but put together in a different way, sort of. so i agree, dreams are amazingly interesting!

I've suffered from Night Terrors and Nightmares for over 30 years. I have nightmares at least 5 nights a week and even thought I've tried different medications nothing has worked to get rid of them. So now I kinda see them as crazy night time movies in my head.

I've been having some crazy dreams lately! I usually go through spells where I have really vivid dreams that I remember pretty well for a few nights in a row. Not sure what causes it. They are amusing to me sometimes because it's neat to see how my brain arranges bits and pieces of things I'd seen the day before. But sometimes they are totally out of the blue and I have no idea why I dream of certain things!

I think dreams are sometimes messages from our consciousness or higher self. I also think they serve many purposes - to make us think, to warn us, and to reassure us at times. Also, some are just plain nonsense after watching too much television, like you said. I record my dreams - the ones I remember. They have messages sometimes not apparent at first. I always pay attention to my dreams. xo

I had a crazy ass dream a few years back. I was on a layover and the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night. I slept right through it, but incorporated it into my dream. In the dream, the staff of the STL airport Marriott kept blackmail files on all of the hotel guests. Then they accidently assigned me the room where they kept the files. The files were hidden behind the heater. So the staff set off the fire alarm to get me out of the room. But when I looked out the peephole I could see them waiting to get in the room so I didn't leave. Well the fire alarm really did go off and I found out about it the next morning on the van. Makes me laugh thinking about it.

I do believe dreams are from our subconscious and are about things that are happening to us or how we are feeling, sometimes very symbolic as well. God used to send men visions in dreams, majorly realistic visions. I wonder if that happens now still, what do you think?

I think I dreamed up a Hollywood movie the other night. In my dream, a woman (who appeared to be Tina Fey) was trying to escape a zombie apocalypse along with a hot guy (who appeared to be someone I knew in college), but although her major goal should have been surviving, she was really just hoping to sleep with the guy before they both got eaten. I swear, I dreamed this. Should I write a script for it?

I dunno. That's a great question. They say that dreams are your brain processing the events of the day, and I believe that, but I think that there's also something more... I tend to have very vivid dreams, always in color, and I usually remember at least portions. Sometimes I have dreams that come true, which is always weird, but that's pretty rare these days. It was a lot more common when I was younger.

Yes, there are layers of meaning in dreams. Whenever I wake up from one, I tell myself to write it down, but - because I'm too tired - I then tell myself it was so vivid, I won't forget it. Alas, I always do.

My dreams are so vivid that it is like living two lives. Not a bad thing unless I have that stupid one where I work all night. Some I know are based on some of my last thoughts before sleep. Others, good grief, where do they come from? The ones I love are the ones so great that I am sorry I had to wake up.

I dream a lot in vivid color and sometimes with smells. Sometimes I wonder if they are memories from a past life. When I was small I had tidal wave dreams for years, but I have no idea where they came from. I've also had dreams that were premonitions that came true. Very strange!

You have found the most complex topic... I think some dream are prophetic, some are review of daily activities, a way for our minds to recover, some dreams reflect what we have seen, and some dreams are due to indigestion. Any time I eat pizza with lots of cheese at night I have dreams that have machine guns and warring activities in them! Really strange. Of course in some of my more delightful dreams the cats are talking to me like humans. : )

I have been thinking the same thing about drams Keith... I had a very odd one the other night... Each time I woke up, I would go back into the dream... it was about a friend of mine who had lost their identity and stopped being who I knew they were... I was shocked that this person would ever allow someone to let them change.... Some dreams are allusive... some are odd... I never really know what to make of them...

I don't usually have dreams but when I do is something stress related like money problems, something that's bothering me or something in my to do list that I have to get out of the way. I definitely think that dreams are related to our everyday activities and daily grind.

I have vivid dreams every night, Keith. I am working, etc., in the dream, but fortunately it is always positive. I once read that you NEVER dream of anyone you have never met...so even if you don't always recognize the people you dream about in your dream, it is someone you have met.

Hi Keith,Thank you so much for visiting...and I'm glad the post spoke to your sweet tooth! ;)

As for dreams....what an incredible phenomenon...Sometimes they are so real..and I wonder...perhaps a part of us really travels...mine are usually very vivid, and a bit-nonsensical...but never boring!Great topic....Have a lovely week!

Dreams are merely images and scenes drawn up from your subconscious. If you remember a dream you can probably point out things from the previous day that triggered a part of it. Even random worthless things like a pickle jar or an old hammer

There are quite a few books on the interpretation of dreams. They are definitely symbolic ... from the subconscious. I think we remember a dream vividly if we wake up right after it ... dreaming is a release, an expression of feelings coming to the surface. If you can figure out what it means ... Fascinating :)

I think it certainly depends on the dream. I read somewhere that everything in your dream is something you've seen before (like objects, people, places etc) - but I don't know if that's true. I find if i write down my dreams RIGHT when I wake up in the morning, then when I read over them I can almost visualise them again.

Most of my dreams are strange or vivid or both. Last night I dreamed something, woke up and thought I wonder why I dreamed that. Then followed a period of time where I put a lot of thought into trying to figure out that dream, only to wake up and find that thought period had been a dream, too. It took me a little bit to realize I actually was awake finally. Never dreamed anything like that before.

This is an intriguing question. I've read some about dreams and dream analysis, and I have to say, I just don't know. Sometimes I think dreams are significant and other times I think they are just crazy weird and make no sense. But still, they can be entertaining!

I love your idea of recording dreams. Maybe the scary ones wouldn't seem so bad when we are awake. I guess there are some I wouldn't be able to watch but how cool would it be to have the beautiful ones recorded-the ones we don't want to wake up from.

I've had several wildly disordered dreams that didn't make any sense at all and always after eating too much sweet stuff just before bedtime. I've also had a few dreams that I would love to have been able to record and playback, if that were even possible, how would we know in advance that our dreams would be good and so set the recorder? A good many of my dreams have been traceable to the books and movies I've watched and read and one or two based on things I've seen that day in real life. most of the time though, I wake knowing I've dreamt, but not recalling any of the dream apart from knowing it was happy or disturbing.

In my spiritual tradition, a premonition foretells "bad" or negative/difficult/tragic/etc. events in the future. I think it is a very rare occurrence, to the point that I'm not sure if people ever *truly* have them.

As far as seeing the future in general, maybe it's possible, but not directly. I think most people have experienced dreaming something that "came true." I have, I think pretty much all of my friends have at some point. When that happens, I think it's more likely that your brain made a logical prediction based on previous patterns or routines in your life, just within a fantastic construct.

For the most part, I really do believe dreams are a way for us to work out things in our lives that bother or challenge us. Sometimes the symbolism can be really difficult to get through (the other night I dreamt that I voluntarily cut off my own left foot and happily replaced it with a prosthesis -- still working that one out), and sometimes they are pretty straightforward. I usually don't think there is much else in terms of outside influence happening in dreams. In the Pagan community, both the greater one and the specific one of which I'm a part, I encounter a lot of people who say they dreamt of this goddess and that deity, who gave them a message. In all honesty, I think they were just visited by themselves, working out the answer or message on their own.

I think dreams represent the future! but sometimes I dream bout my childhood, mostly people I've known for years... and some dreams are bad as well that I don't wanna remember. I don't really know exactly where it came from but it is fascinating indeed. Thanks for sharing, Keith,:)

I'm very interested in my dreams. Mostly because it says so much about what is going on in our subconscious and what we need to work on in ourselves - unless, like you said, we just watched a horror movie!

Though the theory is now out of favor, I still feel there's archetypal meaning to be found in our dreams. On that level, anyway, I still subscribe to Freudian/Jungian principles that dreams are a gateway to either the personal or collective unconscious.

My husband and I were just talking about this earlier today. I've had a few strange ones lately that include bits and pieces of the past and people I know from various places. I wonder if our dreams illustrate all the things tumbling about in our heads, and perhaps they make more sense than real life and we just don't know it! :)

I also think dreams are fascinating. Some of my dreams are bizarre, and some of them scare me. The one that scare me are ones that I dreamt about and then, they happen! Intuition doing overtime, methinks.

I think they do have meaning, but you have to know what the symbols mean to you before you can figure out the general meaning of them, and not just take ideas from a book. But, that's just my personal opinion. :)

Well...I've been thinking a lot about it, lately....mostly my dreams play like some weird movie..a few I remember n forget rest...But, a few days earlier, my dream played some kinda premonition trick...nothing major, but it'd happen...And I was shocked..

I read once that dreams are your mind's way of sorting out all your problems and thoughts from the day while your body catching some rest. I don't really care for conflict, so I'd much rather my subconscious sorted it all out for me.

I ponder this question often. I think they come from different sources. Some are divine, sometimes are brains and emotions are trying to sort through things, and some originate from that enormous pizza eaten before bed time.

Research on dreams has shown that they are often subjects we have been concerned with during the day - subconsciously even - and that we deal with these subjects by dreaming - not necessarily recognisably or with the same situations or in the same words.

That's so weird! I have been having crazy dreams lately too! In fact, just yesterday I was googling the meaning of one because I had no idea where it would have came from. Dreams are interesting. I would love to record mine and play them back...on second thought, maybe not. lol!

Sometimes when I dream about "getting busy," I never seem to be able to seal the deal (if you know what I mean).I suppose that's what happens when the onset of puberty is several decades in the rearview mirror.

Although dreams are a figment of the mind and some complex psychology, there is a mystical and magical part of me that still thinks that they are a beautiful and mysterious way of speaking to us from a higher power, or SOMETHING out there. I hope your week is going good, dear Keith! PS Classes are so very hard but very rewarding in knowledge! thanks for asking! :)

I lOVE dreams and dreaming. I think everything you say that dream could be is true, plus even more. I love the idea of aboriginal dream time. I had a really interesting dream the other night and while I was dreaming I thought to myself, this dream would make a cool short story. Of course I can't remember the dream now and didn't write any of it down, so I have no idea what the dream was. Maybe it will surface sometime and turn into that story...

Dreams are our subconscious' way of figuring out things. And most people in your dreams are manifestations of yourself in some way. So, last night I dreamed that Betsy, our office manager came to my office in tears because all the streets were being torn up by her home and she was afraid she wouldn't make it home that night. She had a map but worried that it was "false." Also, my office was a complete mess in the dream and I was embarrassed that she saw that. In my waking life, I feel very stymied by my daughter's adolescence, worry that I am not doing things right with her. (worrying about getting back to my "home") and I am always questioning what I do (a "false" map...) And we are having lots of problems with a fairly new hire at my office, a translator, who is now showing her true colors, saying that she has back problems because she "sits" too much and is thinking of filing for worker's comp. She also calls in sick repeatedly because she is a heavy party person and has already taken all her vacation days for the entire year. Thus, my office is kind of a "mess" as in my dream. Dreams can also be, as you mentioned, some movie that you watched before sleep or what you ate.

I think sometimes they're just thoughts in our subconscious that are all jumbled together. Sometimes they're the product of things we're concerned about, or things we're hoping for. Sometimes they can truly be a message we need to hear. But usually they're just random nonsense.

I don't remember my dreams anymore Keith ~ Or I don't think I have dreams at night anymore ~ When I was younger though, I recall my dreams and believe them to be my subconscious talking to me ~ Dreams are always about you, even the characters in your dreams are you ~ Happy Friday ~

I think they're a little of everything you described. Personally, I always pay close attention to the ones with family members that have passed or the weird ones that you remember, usually they hold a message.

I have odd dreams all the time! A lot of people suggest that it's a psychological thing to do with our subconscious working away while we sleep, thinking through any problems we've been worrying about. To some extent I agree with that, but most of my dreams just seem really random. I don't know what the random ones are about. At least they're entertaining!

I think that dreams are kind of a re-winding of the day and our life, but I do feel that sometimes they mean more....sometimes they are a message...here is link to a post I did once about one of mine you may have read it but here it is anyway: http://thewordwhisperer2.blogspot.com/2013/02/all-that-can-be-saved.html#comment-form

The idiosyncrasy of dreams is mysterious yet fascinating. The rules of reality do not apply to the world of dreams. It is known yet unknown, it reflects our conscious mind yet it originates in the subconscious mind and the most interesting part to me is, it is unreal yet it shadows reality.

Many of our dreams come from an area of our brain with which we might not be too much in tune. It sounds spooky but the nature of many dreams could render our conscious mind speechless. How to make sense of them? Or should you? That's why we have surrealism. That's why I've always been hooked on it.

First I'm so glad I can finally visit you! I have a new laptop my old one wouldn't accept you I guess It couldn't hold much whatever. i usually remember all my dreams and nightmares and I have had some that would pull the hair right out of your head, those I never forget some of my nightmare have come true in life...some show me what I've lived before and some are so full of love that i never want to wake up....for quite a while I wrote them all down, i have them somewhere, some were predictions, others forgotten...some I never want to remember again...

I try to write mine down immediately if I can remember them in the am. I think it's so funny that you can remember them so vividly and then if you try to recall them later, it's like they completely disappeared from your mind!

blessings.....In other words "dreams" are temporary truths?I have dreamt every single day of my life, there is not a day I don't wake up and I haven't dreamt, even in cat naps I dream. I don't think my brain ever sleeps. The ones i tend to be weary of, are the repetitive ones in my experience they are ones that brings forth the revelations.

I see dreams as the works of the subconscious mind trying to tell us things we need to know. The blog was initially completely about those dreams which kept me thinking even after waking up, now it's hard to recall them after waking up again. Like it's all peaceful again. :) I hope you find your answers soon (they'll make your dreams peaceful).

I useally dream about people or things I've thought about during the day. I read once that if you are too hot at night you will have more scary dreams so I keep our room really cold. It doesn't always work but it does help me sleep! :)

Have you actually read the latest studies on dreams?I recently took a psychology class and let me try to remember this correctly... But our dreams are meant to be our brain transferring short term to long term memory and our brains can't just take piece by piece and actually make a story line from what is being transferred? Something like that... Tammy

Yes. Memories, subconscious, premonitions. I think if you think about something so much, if something is weighing heavy on your mind, your dreams will reflect that. I also believe dreams can be problem solvers, and for sure they can warn you about something or give a heads up about something that has or might happen. Premonitions. Definitely. In my head anyway. Awesome topic. Again!

I think dreams can be a lot of things...events from the past day, random thoughts, unspoken desires and fears, messages from loved ones passed on...I've experienced all of these. Great topic Keith, thanks!

I love dreams! They have always been one of my favorite topics to study in psychology classes. I remember a fair amount of my dreams. A lot of times they're weird and I always enjoy those. Sometimes they're about every day life, which is always a little boring. Why would I want to dream about the life that I live every day? (Generally my every day life dreams take place at work.) I rarely have nightmares and when I do I always know that I'm asleep so I'm able to wake myself up. I think that sometimes dreams can be useful and be used for problem solving. I also think that dreams can contain messages. But I don't think that's a regular thing--at least not for me. I've always been fascinated by the meaning that people assign to dreams, just to see what they have to say, but I never really consider the meanings too much. Whenever I've felt like a dream has solved a problem or told me something, I always woke up knowing exactly what insight I gained from the dream. It has happened a couple of times.

I think there are different dreams. I guess sometimes they are just a reflection of what we have done, watched etc before we went to bed. I think they can have a deeper meaning in some cases. Unsolved problems, things we need to take care of etc.I often get chased in my dreams...people try to kill me. I wonder what that means. :)

I used to have dreams and things would come true in real life from the dreams. CREEPY. Of course it was never anything "zombie" related. hahaha Walking Dead will give you some messed up dreams. I've often thought it would be fun to write short stories based off my dreams.